RND Websites

Two nights ago, we were rudely awakened by loud noises coming from downstairs. I immediately knew what was happening: someone was breaking into our house, probably to grab our iMac. By the time I got to the room the bastards were gone, leaving broken glass all over the room. They smashed a window, probably using a sledgehammer. The window was doubleglazed, and the outside pane was almost a centimeter thick. It took them at least five swings to break the glass. But within a few minutes they were through, managed to grab the computer and drive off on their scooter.

We immediately called the police and they responded quickly, sending units to search for the scum that stole our computer. Sadly, but not unexpected, they didn’t find anyone. The police arrived 10-15 minutes later at the house and did their best to calm us down and get our statement. Our neighbours also came out right after it happened. Considering we all just moved here and haven’t really got to know each other, I was very grateful that they were there for us. One neighbour actually saw the direction they took off in, but it didn’t help in the recovery of our computer.

The day after, I just went to work as if nothing happened, but all day I had a knot in my stomach. Luckily, work was a good distraction. That night we had already planned to go out, so we did that, again as if nothing happened. But in the back of my head, the memory still lingered. The exhaustion kicked in when we got home and both of us had a pretty good night’s sleep.

Yesterday, I finally managed to get a good look at the room and the broken glass everywhere. Perhaps foolishly, I let it sink in, because I wanted to trigger the feelings that were slumbering inside. The most prevalent feeling was anger. I’m so mad that someone took a sledgehammer to our house, smashed our window and grabbed our computer that held a lot of personal stuff, like the original photos from the birth of our little girl (luckily we had the best pictures backed up on the net). Last night, I woke up around the same time as the break in happened. I lay awake for an hour, thinking of all the things I would’ve done if I had managed to get down there in time. All the time I felt that knot in my stomach grow bigger. I can still feel it now. I want to get rid of it, I want to get past this and feel safe and happy in my home again. I won’t let those bastards make me feel like a victim, like I somehow deserved what happened. They had no right, whatever they might think about that themselves. I live in a terrific country, where no one has to steal to survive. It’s pure, unadulterated envy that made them do what they did. They saw something they wanted to have, and instead of working for it and earning the money to buy it, they had to invade my home to get mine.

Next week, our window will be fixed, all the broken glass will be removed and hopefully, the room will look like nothing happened, so we can move past this. I hope that whoever did this, will, at some point, be held accountable and be punished for their evil. In the meantime, I will overcome my fear and move on with my life.

A few days ago, I watched the TED presentation by Matt Cutts where he explains how he changed things in his life by trying out new things for thirty days. Towards the end of his presentation he also admits that it doesn’t always work, like when he tried to go thirty days without sugar. However, I think that the essence of his story might work for me. I usually set enormous goals for myself and then never start them, because I decide upfront that there’s no way I can achieve said goals.

One of those things is improving my JavaScript and general programming skills. I try to keep up with new developments, but I hardly ever sit down and play around with code, unless my day job requires it. Of course, my life has changed enormously after the birth of my daughter and it’s been a very tiring few months. But that is quieting down now, so I feel this is a good time to start this experiment.

So what am I going to do? For the next thirty days (starting tomorrow, Monday 26th), I’m going to spend at least two nights a week on improving my skills, instead of improving being a couch potato. Because my kid usually doesn’t sleep before 8pm, and I need to get some sleep as well, a night will consist of two to three hours. So, let’s see how it went on October, 26th!